Academics

George Washington Develops Course That Encourages Advocacy, Inspired By Malala Yousafzai

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A 16-year-old teen whose advocacy for education for girls made her the target of a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012, has inspired a university to develop a curriculum encouraging advocacy.

Based on the life of Pakistini teen Malala Yousafzai, George Washington University announced on Monday that its faculty members are assembling multimedia curriculum tools to accompany her book "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot By the Taliban."

The curriculum will focus on themes such as the importance of a woman's voice and political extremism, the Associated Press reported.

"It's going to be really interactive and encourage students to do ... activities outside of school, it will encourage them to get engaged in the communities," Mary Ellsberg , director of the university's Global Women's Institute, said.

The curriculum will look at the defiant teen's story, and how the same issues she faced get reflected elsewhere, such as when child marriage and pressures to leave school, Ellsberg added.

Several faculty members will pilot the curriculum early next year for both college and high school instruction. The new curriculum will also help the Malala Fund directly.

The university's Global Women's Institute is partnered with the Malala Fund, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure girls around the world have access to education. Yousafzai ascended to global fame and adoration following her brave recovery from gunshot wounds to the head.

She told BBC earlier this month that she want to help women and children in other troubled spots.

"We want to help every child in every country that we can," Yousafzai said. "We will start from Pakistan and Afghanistan and Syrianow, especially because they are suffering the most and they ... need our help."

She said she would like to enter projects later in life and bring change to Pakistan.

Earlier this month, Yousafzai won the European Union's annual human rights award, beating fugitive U.S. Intelligence Analyst Edward Snowden.

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